Organizations defending people with disabilities denounce the circumstances of the death of a man with autism and COVID-19 in intensive care at Notre-Dame Hospital in Montreal. An investigation by Le Devoir revealed Monday that the 52-year-old patient, under public curatorship, tore the respiratory equipment to which he was attached, while he was unattended.
The executive director of the Quebec Intellectual Disability Society, Anik Larose, is outraged. “This is totally unacceptable,” she said. This is what we anticipated and unfortunately, this is what happened. These people must absolutely be accompanied, according to her. “They can become disorganized in the hospital, a highly anxiety-provoking environment in times of COVID-19,” reports Anik Larose.
“That doesn’t make damn common sense!” »Danielle Gaudet is president of the Users’ Committee of the Center for Rehabilitation in Intellectual Disability and Pervasive Developmental Disorders (CRDITED) of Montreal, which is part of the CIUSSS du Center-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montreal, as Notre-Dame Hospital. “How is it that this person under curatorship and who has an autism spectrum disorder was not accompanied to intensive care? And that she managed to unplug? She asks.
The Montreal CRDITED Users Committee says it is all the more worried that the cases of COVID-19 are increasing in intermediate resources (IR) and family-type resources (RTF), which house people with intellectual disabilities or an autism spectrum disorder in the territory of the CIUSSS du Center-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal. About twenty outbreaks are in progress, a peak since the start of the pandemic, according to the most recent data from the CIUSSS.
Since the start of the second wave, eight residents of RI and RTF have died from COVID-19, indicates the CIUSSS. About 155 residents of RI and RTF contracted the disease during the same period. “When we ask questions on any subject to the direction of the DI-TSA-DS [déficience intellectuelle, trouble du spectre de l’autisme et déficience physique] of the CIUSSS, they do not answer us, protests Danielle Gaudet. It is the omerta. “
Nathalie Goulet, family worker at Autisme Montreal, is not surprised that such a situation has arisen. “What existed before COVID-19 is only getting worse,” she says. She cites as an example the case of a young person suffering from an autism spectrum disorder whose bedroom door in a Montreal hospital was monitored by a security guard, for lack of an adequate worker to take care of him.
Internal investigation in progress
The Quebec Intellectual Deficiency Society questioned the Ministry of Health and Social Services about supporting people with intellectual disabilities in hospital, even before being made aware of the death of this man from 52 years. “We were told that if the hospitals make a request to their CIUSSS or CISSS, they can have support from the management of DI-TSA [pour s’occuper de ces patients] », Reports Anik Larose.
What happened to the 52-year-old man? Was there a protocol in place? Asked about this, the CIUSSS du Center-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal replied that it could not comment on the matter. An internal investigation is underway. “The first people who will be made aware of the details of this investigation are the members of the family,” said spokesperson Jean-Nicolas Aubé. We are already in contact with them. “
The director of the DI-TSA-DP program of the CIUSSS Carla Vandoni retorts that she answers “all the questions” of the Users’ Committee of the CRDITED of Montreal. “But not always the same day,” she explains.
Carla Vandoni stresses that measures to contain outbreaks in IR-RTF will be “intensified”. Infection prevention and control teams are already providing resource support, especially with regard to personal protective equipment, she says. “We will add staff who will circulate in the communities to ensure that everything is well done,” says Carla Vandoni.
–
–
